


a lesson on living together

by Ceta



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Bathroom Shenanigans, Domestic Fluff, M/M, liveloveyoibing, with a side of feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 20:37:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14480739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ceta/pseuds/Ceta
Summary: Victor rouses Yuuri awake with an insistent hand, though Yuuri just grumbles and shoves his face into his pillow and promises, “Five more minutes.”“Yuuri,” Victor says. “Let’s brush our teeth together.”Or; Victor and Yuuri learn to share a bathroom.





	a lesson on living together

**Author's Note:**

> For the LLYB bing prompt _tap_ : tap water!
> 
> [Taiga](https://odinbytiye.tumblr.com/) drew a [wonderful piece](https://odinbytiye.tumblr.com/post/173426186763/tomorrow-keep-your-eyes-open-i-want-you-to-look) and [Sarah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pandamilo/works) came in clutch with the beta for this one! Go check them out ^^

 

 

It’s nearly noon when Victor tries to open the bathroom door only to find it locked. A confused smile pulls at his lips, and he tries turning the knob again like it’ll magically be unlocked this time around.

 

“Oh- sorry, Victor, just a second!”

 

“Yuuri?” Victor asks, hints of amusement coloring his voice. “What are you doing in there?”

 

“... Getting ready?” 

 

Victor does smile this time, though his confusion doesn’t abate. It’s only been a few days since Yuuri moved in with him, bringing only two suitcases and a nondescript box barely as tall as Makkachin where he stuffed some extra blankets, a pillow, and extra winter wear to combat Russia’s notorious weather. Needless to say, Victor tossed the pillow and blankets onto his own bed and persuaded a jet-lagged Yuuri to come to bed with him that night, and every night since. 

 

Despite Victor’s tolerance for the cold, it’s nice, being able to tuck his cold toes between Yuuri’s legs and press against his warmth.

 

“Why’s the door locked, love?” There’s shuffling on the other end, and the door clicks open to reveal Yuuri and the faint pink on his cheeks.

 

“It’s embarrassing,” he says, and when Victor tilts his head at him - because they’ve sat in the onsen together too many times to count, nude but for the flimsy towel around their waists - Yuuri explains, “I never had to share, I guess. The bathroom, I mean. At home, I’d usually be the last one to use it, since everyone else woke up earlier, and the onsen is different; it’s supposed to be a public space. When I was in Detroit, Phichit would be gone by the time I woke up, since he had earlier classes, so I just always had the bathroom to myself.”

 

Victor coaxes Yuuri out from where he’s half hidden behind the door and pulls him close. “What about in Moscow for Rostelecom or Barcelona?” he asks, then remembers the way Yuuri all but flew through his morning routine when they were in their shared hotel rooms, barely in the restroom for more than three minutes before he left just as Victor was coming in. Victor thought it was just nerves, then. “... Nevermind.”

 

“Yeah,” Yuuri says. “Sorry.”

 

Victor pats his back in consolation. “Don’t be. You’re just not used to it - and if I have to be honest, I’m not either.” After years of living on his own, it’s different sharing a space with someone else, but not in a bad way. Victor likes it, turning a corner and finding small pieces of Yuuri scattered everywhere. He presses his lips to Yuuri’s temple, smiles. “We can learn together.”

 

* * *

 

Victor rouses Yuuri awake with an insistent hand, though Yuuri just grumbles and shoves his face into his pillow and promises, “Five more minutes.”

 

“ _ Yuu _ ri,” Victor says. “Let’s brush our teeth together.”

 

Yuuri is still for a moment, and Victor almost thinks he’s fallen asleep again, but then he pushes himself up and mumbles, “Okay.”

 

Smiling, Victor takes his hand and pulls him towards the bathroom. Victor’s not sure how he never noticed it, the way Yuuri would plead a few more minutes Victor would willingly give him while he got ready himself. It was something he just attributed to Yuuri’s tendency to wake up late, but it’s different now in the light of Yuuri’s confession days before.

 

_ Time to fix that _ , Victor thinks as he grabs the toothpaste while Yuuri picks up his toothbrush. 

 

“Here,” he says, putting a generous strip of toothpaste onto Yuuri’s brush before doing the same for himself. When Yuuri makes no move to start brushing, Victor smiles and starts himself, heedless of the quiet. After a few seconds of it, though, Victor glances over at Yuuri to find that he’s staring at him. “Wha’?”

 

“You don’t… add water?” Yuuri asks, still staring at him with that strange look in his eyes.

 

Victor raises an eyebrow as if to ask, _And you do?_ , and continues to brush his teeth, smiling when Yuuri shakes his head with a perplexed half-smile and turns on the tap to run his brush underneath it like he’s making a point.

 

It isn’t long before Victor learns that Yuuri shuts his eyes while brushing his teeth, still groggy from waking up so early in the morning. He sees it all from the moment it happens, gaze fixed on their reflection in the mirror as it is, and he’s endeared almost immediately by the way Yuuri fights to keep his eyes open, squinting with the effort, before frankly giving up. 

 

It’s a beautiful sight, seeing the two of them reflected in the mirror side by side, doing something as mundane as brushing their teeth. It tickles his heart and makes him warm all over, keeps the smile on his face for a long time afterwards.

 

 

* * *

 

It's a few days of their shared mornings and evenings when Yuuri groggily pushes open the bathroom door to see Victor by the toilet. 

 

“Sorry!“ he yelps when Victor glances at him over his shoulder. Yuuri covers his eyes, ducks his gaze down to the floor for good measure, and squeaks out, “I'll just wait outside,” before slamming the door shut between them.

 

“We'll work on that,” Victor says later that afternoon with a laugh. Yuuri doesn't think they'll ever  _ stop  _ working on that, not really, but he appreciates Victor’s patience anyway, and the kind smile he never seems to not wear when he's looking at Yuuri. 

 

“Do we have to?” Yuuri asks.

 

Victor hums, wraps an arm around Yuuri, and says, “No, not if you don't want to. It's fine.”

 

“... I'll try,” Yuuri says, though he's not really sure how he feels about it, going to the restroom and having Victor able to walk in at any time. It's strange. “Just warn me if you're going to walk in.”

 

“I can do that,” Victor says, then drapes himself over Yuuri to have his afternoon nap. 

 

(Victor does not, in fact, warn him. He walks in and out so quickly, quiet but for the way his bare feet brush against the floor, that Yuuri hardly notices him until he's halfway out the door, pulling it until it's almost shut behind him. Yuuri can't even bring himself to be embarrassed, too grateful for Victor to really care.)

 

* * *

 

Most days, Victor comes home later than Yuuri, since Yakov trains him once Yuuri’s practices are over. It’s evening when he opens the door to see Yuuri scrubbing the dishes that piled up in between their busy hours. Something helpless trembles in his chest at the sight of Yuuri underneath the array of lights from above, and Victor doesn’t think he’ll ever get tired of this, coming home to find someone here waiting for him.

 

He hangs up his coat and strides over, greeting an enthusiastic Makkachin on the way, and rolls up his sleeves as he comes up beside Yuuri. “Here, let me help.”

 

Yuuri starts, blinks up at Victor with surprise in his eyes. “Oh- Victor, it’s all right. You should go rest.”

 

Victor laughs but coaxes Yuuri over despite his stubbornness. “You sound like  _ my _ coach, now.”

 

Once Victor’s hands are under the warm water, a dish clutched in his hands to rinse off, Yuuri relents but doesn’t look happy about it, if the pull of his brows are anything to go by. Enamored anyway, Victor leans over to press his smile to Yuuri’s temple, then, when that doesn’t seem to work, to the pout of his lips. A helpless laugh escapes Yuuri, and he steps away to retaliate by flinging water right in Victor’s face.

 

“ _ Yuuri _ ,” Victor complains. 

 

“Rinse off the dishes first,” Yuuri says, but there’s a fond smile pulling at his lips now, the light of mirth dancing in his warm eyes. 

 

“Cuddling later?”

 

“Bath later,” Yuuri corrects, and Victor lights up. After a handful of weeks of their bathroom rituals, this is the first time Yuuri has ever asked him. The faintest hint of red creeps up Yuuri’s cheeks, and he adds, “Then cuddling -- if you’re alright with that.”

 

“Of course I am.”

 

“Then, we’ll do it,” Yuuri says, and it sounds like he’s excited about it - a noticeable improvement to how he was when he first moved in, hesitant and mindful of stepping into Victor’s space or of Victor coming into his own.

 

It isn’t long before they're lounging in the tub, warm and comfortable, pressed against each other as they are. Victor dropped a bath bomb into it earlier if only because of Yuuri's fascination with them - Victor prefers the essential oils and bath salts without all the clean up that comes with using a bath bomb, but who is he to deny Yuuri anything? - but the warm vanilla scent of it is soothing, lulling Victor into a daze.

 

Leaning back against Yuuri, nearly half-asleep, Victor hears him quietly say, “I was lying, earlier.”

 

Victor thinks hard about what it is Yuuri is talking about, not quite following. “... About cuddling?”

 

His answer is enough to surprise a laugh out of Yuuri. “No, not that. Earlier. When I said I wasn’t used to sharing a bathroom.”

 

“Oh,” Victor says. His eyes fall shut, and he sinks a little deeper into the warm water, leans his head against Yuuri’s shoulder.

 

“Yeah,” Yuuri says, and it comes out soft and fond, if a bit embarrassed. He strokes Victor’s arm, little quick brushes of his fingers against Victor’s skin that have Victor relaxing even further. “I lied. I didn’t want to share a bathroom with you because I wasn’t used to it. It was just- I didn’t know how I’d handle it, seeing you. I still can’t, sometimes, especially in the mornings, but it’s easier like this, at night, because I had all day to prepare myself.”

 

The only thing Victor can glean from this is the memory of them brushing their teeth each morning. “You close your eyes when you brush your teeth,” he says. 

 

“Because I’m afraid I might be blinded if I look at you before I even washed my face,” Yuuri tells him, like it’s secret. The water laps at the edges of the tub when Yuuri shifts, wrapping his arms around Victor. “You’re so beautiful, Victor.”

 

A pleasant warmth fills Victor’s heart. “You are, too.” He turns his head and smiles at Yuuri. “Tomorrow, keep your eyes open. I want you to look at me.”

 

Yuuri laughs, quiet and wonderful. “I always do.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
